The Knowledge for the World campaign -- a seven-year initiative that has raised $2.3 billion for the University's eight divisions and medical center -- will be extended to 2008, with a new goal of raising an additional $900 million, President William Brody said in a statement last Friday.
Although the campaign has already exceeded its original goal of $2 billion, Brody attributed the increased fundraising goal to a series of new challenges that Hopkins faces, including a greater demand for biomedical research and innovative theories of international relations.
"We should rededicate ourselves -- right now -- to the idea that Johns Hopkins is an engine of discovery and that knowledge can improve the world," Brody said in his statement.
The Hopkins Board of Trustees approved the new campaign parameters unanimously, Jerome Schnydman, executive assistant to the president, said. According to Brody's statement, the University will seek to raise $325 million for Hopkins' endowment, and $575 million toward building projects and costs of operating academic and research programs.
Schnydman attributed the success of the campaign to a group of "generous donors who understand our needs throughout the institution."
Up to 3,500 donors have contributed to the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), with 375 donations exceeding one million dollars. According to Fritz Schroeder, senior associate vice-president of development at Hopkins, the donors include alumni and individuals interested in University programs, foundations, corporations and associations.
The allocation of the campaign funds, Schnydman explained, depends upon the particular wishes of the donors. "It's important to understand that we direct funds to wherever donors want them to go," he said, adding that, although the campaign efforts cover all divisions at the University, more than half of the funds raised to date have gone to Hopkins medicine.
While overall donations have exceeded expectations, the current funds raised for the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering have not yet reached their original goal amounts.
When the campaign began in 2000, the University sought to raise $250 million and $150 million for the Krieger School and the Whiting School, respectively, based on budgeted needs that were computed by the dean of each school.
The School of Arts and Sciences, however, has currently raised $190 million, while Whiting has raised $106 Million, falling behind their originally projected goals.
"The schools haven't reached their goals yet, but they're close enough that we're not worried about them reaching their goals," Schroeder said. "I wouldn't say that the schools have struggled," he added. "Certain parts of the campaign race ahead, while others move at a steady pace. Arts and Sciences and Engineering are moving at a good steady pace."
Despite the current funding lag, the Krieger and Whiting schools have also raised their fundraising goals, with both schools seeking to add $10 million to their original campaign goals.
The Homewood schools are seeking to increase funding in four general categories of needs, Schroeder said. They include a school-wide push for increasing need-based scholarships for undergraduates, increasing support for faculty creating endowed chairs, capital projects like the Gilman renovation and the construction of the Computational Sciences and Engineering building.
Within the overall goal of increasing the campaign's funds by $900 million, Schroeder said that the largest portion of funding -- approximately 55 percent -- will be sought for research and academic programs. The allocation of this money depends upon the specific research the donors support.
Student aid programs and faculty development account for around 10 to 11 percent of the overall campaign funds, while capital projects -- such as the Gilman renovations and the construction of the Mason Building, the new visitor's center -- generally use around 15 to 16 percent of the funds raised.
